Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce

I’ve said before, and I’ll say again – creamy is probably the best word to describe food ever invented by man. If you hear that something is creamy and you DON’T want to eat it, you need to get yourself checked out. I fiddled with this recipe a few times before I got it just right – creamy enough that it’s delicious, but not too thick or thin that it’s gooey or watery. I know, I’m an amazing chef, you can thank me later. Make this creamy pasta sauce, which tastes just as good on a spoon as it does on a big steaming bowl of pasta.

1/4 cup shredded Italian cheese (I use an Italian blend from the store, you could just use shredded Parmesan)

pinch salt, to taste

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan, to top (optional)

Directions:

Boil some water for the pasta, always remembering to salt the pot! Throw the pasta in once the water is ready, it takes about the same amount of time from putting the water on to the pasta finishing as it takes for the sauce

In a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter over medium low heat

Once the butter is melted, add the garlic and stir around for about 2 minutes

Add the flour and stir until the mixture thickens – about 3 minutes. Keep stirring until it is thick, and TAKE YOUR TIME

Slowly whisk in the half and half. The key to the creamy sauce is to go slow, you don’t want to rush adding ingredients. Take time to whisk the half and half and mix thoroughly before adding the next ingredients

Add tomato sauce and basil and stir to fully combine

Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat and then reduce to a simmer, adding in the cheese

Stir the cheese into the sauce and continue to simmer until the cheese is melted and the sauce is thick – up to 10 minutes. My sauce was bubbling, you can reduce the heat to low to prevent that if you run into that issue, just make sure it is still simmering

Add the salt and stir to finish the sauce

Spread the sauce evenly over your pasta, top with the grated cheese, and enjoy!